Another day spent hunch over a work table, trying to work out what exactly has gone wrong, and attempting to repair, a piece of technology designed not to actually be repaired.
Very little today is made to be repaired. Replace, replace, replace - with a new model, barely different to the old model.
Some things are as simple as a little BFI (Brute Force and Ignorance), pushing a DVD drive reader head back into place, a few along the lines of simple replacement of questionable quality parts, and the occasional item where nothing is obvious.
Of course, people want the best quality in the repairs, but without wanting to pay for it. Every so often, I can happily tell them that the item can't be repaired, sometimes I have to provide an invoice that is quite in excess of what piddling amount they were wanting to get away with. It is nice to sometimes be able to actual get a forty year old bit of equipment back into full working order - and at a fraction of the cost that I had thought.
Times have changed... It wasn't that long ago, really, that electronics, and any manufactured item, were easily repaired. Of course, technology improves, less waste... yet quality goes down. As the complexity of integrated circuits increases, it becomes harder to modify, or use something close enough.
I have to hold my tongue, and not point out to most people that barely seventy years ago, none of the technology that they "depend" on existed... And likely, in seventy years time, people will have to relearn all those ancient lessons.
I spend my time looking at old technology, learning about making valves and other pieces of tech that could be recreated by a small workshop of people. At least if a few people gather all that knowledge, it won't have to be re-discovered.